An Inkling of Rebellion
by Paige Terner
Summary: A look into Kate's wild child years. One-shot.


**Title: An Inkling of Rebellion  
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**Summary: A look into Kate's wild child days.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own most of the characters I write about. If you recognize a name, odds are it isn't mine. But seeing as this is a fanfic website, you probably knew that already.**

**Thanks again to Sunshiny-Kate, the best beta a writer could ask for!**

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><p>Kate had known where she wanted her tattoo to go from the moment she decided to get one. However, deciding what to get had proved to be much more difficult than she'd thought it would be. She'd been thinking about the design for months. She'd dismissed words, Chinese symbols, hearts, and tribal bands. She didn't just want some plain old tattoo. She wanted it to mean something.<p>

And then, six days before her eighteenth birthday, she'd figured it perfect design. She'd been driving her still fairly new-to-her motorcycle through the city, just enjoying the unseasonable warmth and freedom of Veterans day. She ended up at Central Park and decided to walk around for a while and do some people watching.

Her stroll was nearly finished as she headed back to her bike an hour later when something flashed in her peripheral vision. She looked over and saw a splash of brilliant color against the dark browns of the autumn-dead trees. She was taken back by the simplistic beauty of what she saw. After watching it for a few minutes, she ran back to her motorcycle and rode it straight to the library.

Forty-five minutes of researching and copying later, she had all the information she needed and left the library. She knew for sure that she'd found the right design, for she'd been a witness to something that she shouldn't have. It was almost magical, or at least, her grandfather would have said it was.

Once she got home, she ran up the stairs, not wanting to wait on the building's slow, old elevator. She burst through the front door and headed towards her room.

"Hello, Katie. How was your ride?"

"Good, Dad." She called over her shoulder.

"Did you wear your helmet?" Her mom added.

"Yes, Mom. Just like I always do."

"I'm just making sure you're being safe on that thing. Dinner is in twenty minutes."

"Okay." She started to shut her door when her mom spoke again.

"Come and set the table." Kate rolled her eyes. "And stop rolling your eyes."

Kate couldn't help but smile to herself. She didn't know how her mom always knew when she was doing that, even with her back turned. She set her stuff down and went back out to set the table.

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><p>"Can I help you?" The tattooed man behind the counter asked Kate as she walked through the door.<p>

"I'd like to get a tattoo. Please." She answered, suddenly feeling somewhat nervous.

"Are you eighteen?"

"Yes sir."

"My father is a sir. I'm just Paul." He smiled, putting her at ease. "I just need to see some ID and you'll have to fill out some forms."

"Okay." She said enthusiastically as she reached into her purse.

She handed him her drivers license and took the paperwork from him.

"You didn't wait long, did you?"

"Excuse me?" She questioned him.

"Today is your eighteenth birthday. You didn't waste any time."

"Oh. No, I've wanted this for a while now, and I was just waiting until today."

"Right on." He said with a laugh before walking into a room behind him.

It didn't take Kate long to fill out the paperwork, and by the time she was done, Paul had returned and they traded back. He looked over everything and nodded.

"Anything else?" She asked.

"Nope, everything looks to be in order." He looked up at her. Do you have a design picked out or do you need to look through some catalogs?"

"I've got my design right here." She pulled a piece of paper with a picture on it from her pocket and handed it to him. "Can you do that?"

"Yeah. That'll be no problem. But I don't do the ink, I just do the office stuff. Let me see who's free. Give me a second." He went back into the room from before and returned a few moments later. "Okay, I'm going to take you to Sara. She's great. Come with me."

Kate followed him and he led her to an empty padded table. Standing next to it was a woman with her back to them. She heard them walk up and turned around.

"You must be Kate. I'm Sara."

"Yes, it's nice to meet you."

Kate reached out to shake her hand, but Sara held up her blue-gloved hands.

"I would shake, but I've already sterilized."

"Oh, okay." Kate nodded.

"All right ladies, I'll leave you to it." Paul said before walking back to the front counter.

"Where do you want this?" Sara asked.

"Here." Kate pointed to a spot high on the front of her right hip.

Sara looked back at the picture for a moment.

"That'll work. Give me a few minutes and I'll get it drawn on the transfer paper. You can sit on the table in the meantime."

Kate sat where Sara pointed and waited silently while she watched Sara draw.

"You're really good." She said as Sara finished.

"Thank you. Okay, I need you to lay on your back and lift up your shirt so I can put this on."

Kate followed her instructions and Sara wiped her skin with an alcohol wipe to clean it.

"That's cold." She said as she sucked in a breath.

"Sorry." Sara replied while she put the temporary transfer on her skin. "All right, go look in the mirror right there and see if you like it there."

Kate got off the table and stepped front of the mirror.

"It's perfect." She said.

"Do you want it all one color, or just like the picture?"

"Just like the picture, please."

"Okay. Come back to the table and I'll get started. Just so you know, the color is going to take a while, and the shading may hurt a bit more. If you need a break at any point, just call out to me. Are you ready?"

Kate simply nodded and laid back down as Sara started up the ink gun. Kate couldn't see what she was doing due to the angle, so she just laid still and waited. She mentally prepared herself for the pain of the needle, but was surprised when all she felt was a pinching sensation. She relaxed as she grew used to the feeling. Every so often, the pain level would spike, but it never got past extremely uncomfortable. After what felt like thirty minutes, Sara stopped.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked.

"Nothing. It's finished." Sara answered.

"Already?"

"It's been nearly two hours."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Wow."

"Yep. You were good. Some people fidget and take tons of breaks. Want to see it?" Sara pulled off her gloves as she spoke.

"Absolutely."

Kate practically leaped off the table and went back to the mirror.

"Do you like it?" Sara asked.

"It's perfect. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Come back over here and let me cover it, then you can go." Kate came back and stood next to the table. Sara gave her instructions as she put the bandage on. "Leave this on for a few hours. Once you take it off, wash the tattoo gently with mild, antibacterial soap and pat it dry. Keep it uncovered and moisturized with unscented lotion. If it itches, don't scratch, just pat it. In about a week, it'll start to scab and peel. That will last about a week as well. After that you should be good to go. If you have any problems, come by and I'll take a look at it. Have any questions?"

"No. That all seems simple enough." Kate responded.

"Okay, I'm done. Stop by and see Paul to pay on your way out. Have a good day!"

"Thanks again, so much."

"Come see me again if you ever want another."

"I will. Bye!" Kate grabbed her jacket and purse from where she'd put them under the table.

"Bye, Kate." Sara said to the already departing teenager.

"Hey there, all done?" Paul asked as Kate walked out of the back.

"Yep." She said with a smile.

"All right, that's going to be a total of $157.23."

Kate handed over her money and Paul gave her the change.

"Thank you." She said.

"And we thank you as well." He said and Kate turned to leave and was about to go out the door when he called out to her. "Enjoy that little blue butterfly. Cause it's never going away!"

"I will." She looked down towards her hip and smiled. "I always will."

Then she stepped through the door into the chilly New York air.


End file.
